Arsenal banter 66998

18 Sep 2017 06:46:51
Interestingly Wenger has mentioned the intensity of yesterday's performance. That is something that should be a given for a PL team, alongside a sound tactical plan and playing your best players in their correct positions. I have always been impressed by managers such as Sean Dyche at Burnley who despite not having the best players, almost always sets them out correctly, instils an intensity into his team, plays players in their correct positions and makes beating Burnley extremely difficult. I am not certain whether he would cut it at a higher level club, but these basic points are often overlooked by Wenger. Yesterday we had the intensity for sure, tactically apart from the opening section when we pushed too high and Pedro get through way too easily and was thwarted by a fine save by The WB's as I had repeatedly stated concentrated on sitting deep and defending. The DM's were okay, Ramsey occasionally found out of position on the counter attack. The team selected was almost to my liking, except I would have started with Ramsey instead of Iwobi in the more advanced role and Elneny next to Xhakka. I still believe we need a top quality DM to play alongside Xhaka. I also would have played Mertesacker in the centre of the back three flanked by Mustafi and Koscielny. Sitting deep Mertesacker doesn't get exposed pace-wise and Monreal tries so hard, but is not a CB and Kolasinac is far better than him at LB. I don't belive we missed Ozil and if we can get anything for him in January I would cash in. Likewise with Sanchez, if we can get £20m+, take it and replace the pair. Hopefully, we continue playing with yesterday's intensity and desire to win, which is essential.

18 Sep 2017 11:12:14
Isn't Ben Mee a left back? But correct me if I'm wrong but he didn't look like he was playing in the left back position against Liverpool, so Sean Dyche doesn't always play people in what was previously considered their best position.
Henry was a winger, Petitt a CB Toure a midfielder before Arsene change that and their careers for the better.

The more times you say something doesn't make it any more or any less correct RG mate, learn from Arsene my friend stubbornness in order to be seen as being correct is not a strength :-)

18 Sep 2017 12:43:20
G62, of course there are exceptions, often forced for various reasons. I was simply trying to explain the simple concept of setting out a team, tactics and playing players in their best positions tends to bring better and more consistent performances.
I am always impressed by managers that get the best out of the set of players they have at their disposal, which at times I don't believe Wenger does. Perhaps I harp on about these points because it is barely believable that a successful manager such as Wenger often misses these basic concepts.
Yes there are players that move position for the better, the law of averages makes that a given. However, many players that Wenger plays out of position have not been improved by the change, nor has the team benefitted. As prime examples, moving Cazorla and Wilshere into DM positions has resulted in both sustaining serious injuries and our DM position has looked so weak since the likes of Vieira, Gilberto and indeed Petit played. The difference with Petit is that he was a defender and the move was more logical as he already possessed the defensive side of his game. Take yesterday's team selection, did Ramsey and Xhaka truly look comfortable playing in the DM roles? Both clearly look better once they cross the halfway line. What is your opinion of the defensive side of Bellerin and Gibbs, who were both converted from more attacking roles. Would any of the top teams consider playing Monreal at CB? My point was simply confirming that yesterday, simply by playing the WB's deep and the defence deep after Pedro's missed looked so much better. Imagine we purchase a couple of proper DM's and continue to set the team out intelligently, I am sure the results would improve considerably.
As far as my comments are concerned, if they bother you simply ignore them, as do I with many inane comments, other than raver61's which amuse me. It appears that you repeat the same objections to my comments repeatedly, More importantly i'm looking forward to the next game and it will be interesting to see the team selected and how many youngsters get a game. I would like to see Nelson given an opportunity, as well as Wilshere.

18 Sep 2017 13:11:21
Hold me back Sanogo hold me back :-)
RG we could all list Arsenes mistakes and if we only listed his repeat ones it would take us pages and pages to list them.
Examples are easy to find to suit most arguments depending on which side you want to take but for now here in the present Arsene has just had a rae very successful result away to a top team and he got his tactics motivation and formation spot on.
Against Liverpool he and his ability were questioned to the hilt and quite rightly too but yesterday the man had a good day so let's enjoy it while we can mate.
I'm sure your football knowledge expands far wider than you allow yourself to express sometimes RG mate allow your self the creative freedom to expand your range of topics and you might find you start much longer threads that bring about interesting debates and opinions.
Yiu are an excellent poster and an asset to the page mate but you do tend to milk subjects beyond there value.
Strong and stable government and the most important election of my lifetime said repeatedly over and over again didn't inspire many people for Theresa Mays campaign.
You can only say the same thing so many times before people lose interest and change channels mate :-)

18 Sep 2017 14:03:31
Sorry RG but I disagree with both of your examples strongly. Cazorla being played in a holding role was genius from the manager as it allowed us to get the best out of him in his older years, do you really disagree that he was excellent in that role? And as for Wilshere, I'm not sure how long you have been following Arsenal but he was infamous for his injuries way before the suggestion of him playing at DM even cropped up so I'm not sure how you've linked it to that!

18 Sep 2017 15:47:47
All managers have to make big calls if they get the vast majority right their team will be successful and vice versa, Arsene has got enough right to carry as manager on but not enough to make us premier league competive.
In his first 8 years not every decision he made was right but he made so many good ones nobody took to much notice of the poor ones, in his last 8 seasons not every decision he's made has been wrong but they have been too many wrong ones for any good ones to count for much.
If a manager delivers his mistakes are over looked but as soon as he stops delivering the magnifying glass comes out from the public and pundits alike.

19 Sep 2017 11:45:15
The perfect goal. If you truly believe playing Cazorla in a DM role was genius then I have to disagree strongly, The success under Wenger came with tall, athletic midfield players who could defend, such as Vieira, Gilberto and Petit. When he changed to smaller, technical players in the DM roles, we stopped competing for the title. Of course quality footballers such as Cazorla and Wilshere can play in almost any position, but that doesn't mean it is the correct position to play them as DM's. As for your comment in respect of injuries, the last thing you do with an injury prone technical player is start to play him as a DM, where tackling clearly enhances the chances of serious injury.

19 Sep 2017 11:51:37
Hi G62 - Going back to the early Wenger period I believe he set the team out correctly, tactics were spot on and the trophies were won as a result. I understand that around the time the new stadium was built that we had severe financial constraints and in addition the competition grew with the emergence of Chelsea then Man City.
What I failed to understand was moving away from the successful formula he had and then persevering with a failed formula for so long. He changed from being predictable in terms of formation, team selection and more often than not it was possible, during the game, to predict his substitutions, to the latest nonsense of playing two LB's at CB!